Family Concerns
by Jet Dreamer
Summary: Tohru is on vacation with her friends. Meaning the three Sohma men will have to cook and clean without her guidance. By 'three', I mean Kyo since he's the only one who can remotely cook. But when he get's sick, the family realizes how much they love the cat. Please review.


Family Concerns

The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. 'Fruits Basket is owned by 'Funimation', 'TV Tokyo', 'Tokyo Pop', and Natsuki Takaya. Please support the official release.

(Third-Person)

"Set him down." Shigure said. Yuki carried an animal that he wasn't much of a fan of. He placed the sick sleeping kitty in the bed. It wasn't just a cat that fell asleep outside the Sohma house. It was Kyo Sohma who had passed out.

Frustrated beyond comparison, Yuki groaned, "Stupid cat."

!

(One Day Ago)

Rain. Cats hate it with a passion. The last thing they wanna do is find themselves getting caught in it. So, thus the reason Kyo was sprinting home with a bag of groceries.

That explains one half of his dilemma.

Tohru had been asked to go on a vacation with Saki. Being nice, Yuki & Shigure told her to take the offer. With no cook, or food to cook, Kyo went to the store trying to get home before the rain. The old woman who decided to write a check made sure he failed.

!

"Where've you been?" Yuki asked angrily seeing his cousin enter. Kyo had left almost an hour ago. Now it was almost night time with Shigure getting out of the bath.

He continued, "Do you know how late it is? I'm starving." Kyo was soaking wet after buying food for the three Sohma men and now he was being hassled by an arrogant rat.

He tried not to yell, "If you haven't noticed, it's raining. How about you thank me for buying this crap instead of,"

"Nobody asked you to go. We could've ordered out. Besides, you knew it was going to rain." Yuki taunted.

"Well if you wanted to go running in the rain for food and come home so some asshole can lecture you, be my guest!" he snapped.

The rat walked away not caring to argue, "Whatever." Under his breath he said, "Stupid cat."

"You say something ya…damn…ya damn rat." Kyo was starting to feel the effects of the rain now that his adrenaline was going down. His head was starting to throb and nose was beginning to leak snot. "Oh…perfect."

!

"Ah! That was delicious Kyo!" Shigure praised now full. "Have you done this before?"

"I had to cook my own food when I was up in the mountains." the cat stated.

"Well that explains why it's so bland." Yuki egged on.

"Go to hell! If you hated it, then why'd ya eat it?!"

Beating the egg, "See that empty vacuum in the refrigerator? That means we don't have any more food other than this garbage."

"Well next time you can cook you spoiled bastard!" Kyo, taking offense, stormed upstairs to his room.

"Uh, Kyo," Shigure asked, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"SHUT UP!"

Slam! The teenager left his family in such a rage that the aftereffect left his legal guardian in a confused state.

"Did Kyo seem…flustered?" the oldest asked.

"He's a stupid cat that gets angry over the stupidest things. He's always 'flustered'."

"No, I mean the other kind." There was a third plate still untouched at the table, "At least he'll take the meal to his room."

!

(That Morning)

"Wow, orange top. You don't look so good." Kyo heard. His face was a sweltering pale white. Particles of hair drifted onto the desk. Eyes half lidded and heavily breathing from the mouth, Kyo resembled a wounded warrior.

Obviously lying, "I caught a cold. It's no big deal."

"No big deal? You look like your about to pass out!" a (fan) girl said.

"She's right man…maybe you should go home." That sentence put Kyo in a confliction. Not the option of taking the offer, but the structure of the offer.

His 'home' was a place where he is criticized by the ones who carry the same last name. A place where he was forced into to begin with. Why go somewhere you're hated?

"Why bother?"

!

"Kyo! Yuki!" Shigure greeted, "How was…your day?" The cat, completely drained headed upstairs without saying a word. "Well, well, well. Looks like our Kyo is under the weather."

Yuki, not to compassionate, "That's what he gets for running around in the rain like an idiot."

"Looks like it's going to rain again today." Shigure said. "Oh, right. We still have to make dinner. But, Kyo is the only one of us who can remotely cook."

"I think I can manage."

"No! You suck." Kyo stunned them both by coming down. He was only putting his backpack away. "Cookin'…is something I n-know I'm b…etter than you at. I'll d-do it."

"Right. Now can you say that without the gasps for air?" Shigure lackadaisically teased.

Seeing him in such bad shape, Yuki attempted to think of words of comfort. Anything that would let his cousin know to take things easy. Just to help the dying cat before him.

His pride wouldn't allow him to do so. If he had conquered it, then maybe the crisis would've been averted.

!

"Is he alright?" Haru asked? With the news of an ill cat lying in bed, Hatori, Hatsuharu, Yuki, & Shigure sat around their orange haired cousin. Two of which were desperately worried.

"He's got a pretty high fever." Hatori explained, "He must've caught it coming home in the rain. Is that what happened?"

Shigure chuckled over embarrassment, "Uh…well…you see. It's a funny story."

"Never mind. Just make sure he gets a lot of sleep and soup."

"Should we make it leek soup?" Yuki joked.

Haru sighed, "You know, Yuki, maybe Kyo wouldn't hate you so much if you didn't antagonize him."

"He's a stupid cat. What respect should I show to him?" he asked seriously. The other three were stunned at Yuki's lack of compassion. Kyo had ran through the rain to get their food. After he slaved over the stove, Yuki still talked down to Kyo.

"Yuki," Hatori spoke up, "You're acting like a spoiled brat. If you're not going to help Kyo then please leave." No hesitation or remorse, Yuki stood up and let the door slam on his way out.

A silent mark was left after the echo. Hatori, Shigure, & Haru sat around the bed wondering what was next.

Ironically, Shigure began to chuckle. No jokes were told. He just, randomly started to laugh.

"What's so funny Sensei?" Haru asked.

"Who wants to hear a funny story!?" Shigure cheered.

The two answered at the same time, "_Not now Shigure_!" Normally those kinds of questions are followed by perverted tales.

"No, trust me!" he stated, "It's actually a life teaching tale if you will." The dog waited for his counter parts to show interest. When they did, he began.

!

(S-Pov)

_So when Kyo was about 5 and I ended up babysitting him, I was in the other room while he was watching TV. I heard the phone ring. I asked Kyo if he could answer it for me. I wanted my editor to think got the wrong number._

"You really are a jackass." Hatori interrupted.

"You're gonna ruin it!" he whined. Getting back to the story.

_Anyway, he answers the phone with his cute little boy voice._

"_Ello?" he said. I had it on speaker so I could hear what Mitsuru was saying to him._

"_Uh…hi I'm looking for Shigure Sohma."_

"_That's my cousin! He's a doggy." Of course, Mi took what he meant for the zodiac curse as my natural demeanor._

"_Aw! How sweet! What's your name?"_

"_I'm 6!"His birthday wasn't too long ago so he was happy to say that._

_Scoffing, "6 is how old you are. I wanna know your name."_

_This time with a smile, "My name is Kyo Sohma! I'm 6!"_

"_Well Kyo, would you be good little boy and put your cousin on the phone?"_

"_Okay!" he turned to me holding the phone._

_I whispered, "Tell her I'm not here."_

_He wore this confused look, "But you are here." It was like I was speaking a foreign language to him. _

"_Yeah, it's a little game. Just tell the nice lady that I'm not at home." Kyo didn't understand the concept of lying yet. So he was a tad hesitant to do so._

_Getting back to the phone, "My cousin says that he's not here."_

"… _(Chime)…."_

_He came back to me, "Cousin Shigure, I think she hung up." _

!

(Third Person)

"HAAA! HA-HA! Ha-Ha! HAAA!" Shigure laughed, "The best part is! He tried to call her back to apologize!"

"Where's the lesson?" Hatori asked.

Calming down, "Kyo is a man of honor. Think about it. When was the last time you've heard him tell a lie? Or start a fight by attacking when they weren't ready?"

They didn't realize it until then, but Kyo's greatest feature was his integrity. He always took responsibility for his actions. If it was destroying Tohru's room, or losing a bet, he always came through on his end.

"Well, that is a good story Sensei." Haru admitted.

"That's just a child acting like a child." Hatori debated. "Kyo isn't as wise as you think he is."

"Kyo's actually pretty wise." Haru interrupted. He seemed a bit less stoic with that statement. He put an effort of brotherly love in.

"Oh!" Shigure taunted, "Well, well, well! Let's hear your cat-fan story Haru."

"It's not a story." He sighed, "It's a saying, 'if you allow a person to treat you like a monster, then that's what you'll become'." Doing an impression, Haru stood up into fighting stance and shouted, "'Stand and fight for yourself if you want to be yourself'!"

Enter: awkward silence. Haru's major character break managed to get the two adults to stare in shock.

"What?" Haru asked back to himself.

"Did…you go black for a few seconds?" Shigure asked quivering from the other side of the house.

"No Sensei. I just got exited thinking about it."

Making a connection, "So there is a story." Hatori raised an eyebrow. Haru sat back down.

He closed his eyes, "Well…he did find me crying after a few kids were picking on me." He twirled his white hair with that last statement. "Anyway, Kyo helped me back to my feet and gave me that piece of advice. Like I said, it's not much of a story. It ends there."

"No it doesn't." Hatori alerted. "Do you know what Kyo did to the kids who were picking on you?" Haru shook his head. "He took all of them on in a fight."

Shigure's smile surfaced, "Sound like him. But how would you know about that exactly?"

The dragon pulled a cover off Kyo down to his legs. Then, he lifted up Kyo's shirt showing abs that would make a fan-girl scream.

"There's a scar on his hip. It's small, but I had to pull out a piece of rock the size of an eye-ball."

!

(Hatori-Pov)

"_Kyo!" I asked, "Why did you fight five boys at once." I had just removed all the rocks that he landed in from his body._

_He was sniffling trying not to cry, "Be-cause! They were picking, on my cousin! That's, not, right!"_

"_What's not right?" I questioned not truly understanding what he meant. I mean, it could've been so many things._

"_They were picking on him! That's what wasn't right!"_

_Again, "What wasn't right is what I'm asking?" _

"_Teasing someone for any reason! What else? I understand joking around, but…trying to make Haru cry for no reason is stupid! So I beat them up! I'm still a Sohma and no one is gonna hurt my family unless they did something to deserve it!" I tried no to at least smirk at his naïve monologue. But it was…comforting to know that he felt this way._

_I was starting to think that with all the fighting he & Yuki did, that he abandoned that moral. But, Yuki is a bit of a spoiled brat. So, I guess that explains that. _

_Kyo stuck with that mantra. Even as a teenager who's rejected, he's still loves us._

(Third-Person)

"What the hell are you laughing at you damn dog?" Hatori stated angrily. Shigure was mindlessly snickering to himself. It was a joke that he conjured up in his own mind.

He quoted, "One man! Alone! Betrayed by the country he loves!"

WHACK!

"Oh, hello Yuki." Haru greeted.

Ignoring that he just tossed his slipper at Shigure, "Hello Haru." Hatori's glare met Yuki. "I'm sorry for storming out like that. I promise…I'll be nicer to that stu…I mean Kyo."

"Well you can start by fluffing my pillow rat-boy!"

Apparently, he was awake the whole time.

"Hey! Hatori! You told me that you'd never tell Haru that I beat up a bunch of jackasses for him!"

"It must've slipped my mind." He teased.

Yuki couldn't help but think, 'So this is my family? It could be worse."

END


End file.
